You read that right. It's Earth Month and we should look to words of wisdom from controversial rapper Eminem as a lightning rod of great quotes designed to change how you think about environmentalism. Let's face it, he is no stranger to controversy, and neither is the concept of the environment and environmental justice. As Earth Month approaches, I want to tickle your brain, ignite your fire, and ask the real Slim Shady to please stand up.
The key to improving our connection to the environment is to think bigger, listen closer, fight smarter and act faster. And here's how...
Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity To seize everything you ever wanted. One moment. Would you capture it or just let it slip? Yo. I was playing in the beginning, the mood all changed. I've been chewed up and spat out and booed off stage, but I kept rhyming and stepped right into the next cipher. Best believe somebody's paying the pied piper.
We have one shot. One planet and we all live on it. Our daily choices create an outcome that impacts the billions of people on our planet and billions yet to come. The innovation needed to deal with our impact on the environment needs to be huge. Imaginative. Human-made climate change is "controversial", but only if you aren't interested in facts. The simple version is we are changing the climate. We need to limit this and big ideas are needed to rein it in and change the course we are on. Big solutions are needed for big problems.
You can sound the alarm, you can call out your guards, you can fence in your yard, you can hold all the cards, but I won't back down, oh no I won't back down, oh no.
You can sound the alarm and you can fence in your yard, but it won't change the fact we are all impacted by our choices as a larger society. We need to listen more closely to those that oppose sustainability and find the right way to invite them to be a part of the solution. That means passion, not zeal. That means that burying our heads in the sand doesn't stop the damage, it only eliminates our chance to stop it. We need for everyone who understands that we are in this together to stand up and ask for action. Invite people into the conversation about simple, sustainable choices and ask them to make their voice heard. Let's speak through a megaphone, not a microphone.
They call me Superman, I'm here to rescue you I want to save you girl, come be in Shady's world.
There is no Superman. No one is going to save our natural resources and wildlife, but us. We need to fight smarter. We need to find new ways to engage, encourage, inspire, innovate and educate. Fighting smarter is about putting your effort where it can make the most difference. Not every fight is the same, or even worth fighting. Knowing how to make the biggest impact is important. Support each other's efforts. Focus your voice. Encourage others to join the conversation. And support their efforts as well. Fight as a community because there is no "us vs them" on this topic. There is only us. And we need to fight together.
What we have to do is deal with it when these individuals are young enough. If you wish to be saved, not in a religious sense but not to constitute what this country at times calls if or which over. We seem to be approaching an age of the gross. We all have this idea that we should move up from our parents station and each generation should do a little bit better.
Teach environmental responsibility while they're young. Kids get the connection with the environment that so many of us lose over time as adults. Kids are endlessly fascinated by the power of nature and its complexities. Teaching environmental responsibility at an early age creates the opportunity for a deeper understanding as they get older. And the next generation may just decide to do a little better than we have.
So be careful what you wish for, 'Cause you just might get it, And if you get it then you just might not know, What to do wit' it, 'cause it might just, Come back on you ten-fold.
If we don't think bigger, listen closer, fight smarter and act faster, we are wishing for something we might not want. So let's work together, respect our planet, inspire our friends and engage. It's time we make our voices heard.
Team Us.